Refuse disintegrator

ABSTRACT

A mechanism is provided for breaking open bundles and fluffing or shredding domestic refuse or the like. A feed hopper flows refuse into the throat between a pair of contra-rotating reels having spiders spaced along their length for contacting the refuse. One of the reels moves at a greater rate than the other, and teeth on the legs of the spiders engage the refuse for tearing open bundles or otherwise disintegrating the refuse. One of the reels is retractable and both are reversible for unjamming the mechanism. Each of the legs of each of the spiders has a replaceable slipcover having teeth along at least one edge thereof. Air jets along the length of the legs serve to clear refuse from the teeth, fluff the refuse, and permit drying, moisturizing deodorizing, or sanitizing of the refuse while it is being disintegrated.

United States Patent Whitney et a1. [45] Aug. 8, 1972 1 REFUSEDISINTEGRATOR 3,578,252 5/ 1971 Brewer ..241/224 X [72] Inventors:Douglas S. Whitney, 2616 E. Norm Place, Anaheim, Calif. 92800, George W.Morgan, 1400 Douglass, Space 112, Anaheim, Calif. 92806 Filed: Feb. 22,1971 Appl. No.: 117,492

1 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 11/1911 Lyon ..24l/l87 2/1947Udden ..241/230 X 8/1968 Liebman ..24l/236 X 8/1969 Brown ..24l/38Primary Examiner-Granville Y. Custer, Jr. Attorney-Christie, Parker &Hale [57] ABSTRACT A mechanism is provided for breaking open bundles andfluffing or shredding domestic refuse or the like. Afeed hopper flowsrefuse into the throat between a pair of contra-rotating reels havingspiders spaced along their length for contacting the refuse. One of thereels moves at a greater rate than the other, and teeth on the legs ofthe spiders engage the refuse for tearing open bundles or otherwisedisintegrating the refuse. One of the reels is retractable and both arereversible for unjamming the mechanism. Each of the legs of each of thespiders has a replaceable slipcover having teeth along at least one edgethereof. Air jets along the length of the legs serve to clear refusefrom the teeth, fluff the refuse, and permit drying, moisturizingdeodorizing, or sanitizing of the refuse while it is beingdisintegrated.

. 16 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures REFUSE DISINTEGRATOR BACKGROUND Thisinvention is related to US. Pat. application Ser.

No. 16,685, filed Mar. 5, 1970, entitled RECLAMA- TION METHOD ANDAPPARATUS, by George W. Morgan and Douglas S. Whitney, now US. Pat. No.3,595,389, issued July 27, 1971, and also to US. Pat. application Ser.No. 71,958, filed Sept. 14, 1970, entitled CONVEYOR SYSTEM by George W.Morgan and Douglas S. Whitney. The subject matter of these patentapplications is hereby incorporated by reference for full force andeffect as if set forth in full herein.

In our present society, large volumes of domestic wastes are producedand discarded. This waste is a melange of articles found in our homesand industries, and includes many salvageable commodities, such as wastepaper, rags, glass, cardboard, and a variety of reusable metals. Many ofthese articles are presently discarded and buried in sanitary filldumps, or the like. It is highly desirable in order to preserve ournatural resources and maintain the quality of the environment to reclaimand recycle as much of this reclaimable material as possible.

These waste materials are presently picked up in trucks or the like andhauled to a central dumping location where they are discarded. In orderto reclaim such materials, it is desirable to present them to manual orautomatic sorting equipment in a relatively steady, controllable flow.In order to accomplish this, means are required for conveying thematerials from the trucks as dumped to some metering arrangement forcontrolling the fiow through the balance of the sorting system.

The trucks commonly employed for handling domestic refuse employhydraulic mechanisms for compacting the refuse as it is gathered inorder to decrease the volume of the refuse collected and increase theeffective capacity of the trucks. On a smaller scale, balers aresometimes used in homes and indus tries for reducing the volume ofdiscarded trash. Further, much of the collected trash is tied in bundlesor placed in cardboard cartons, sacks, plastic bags or other containershaving mixed contents. In order to sort the waste materials intovaluable components, it is necessary to break up the compacted refuse inbundles, and also to rip open cardboard boxes, and paper or plastic bagshaving mixed waste so that the manual or automatic sorting equipment mayhave free access to all varieties of the valuable components.Preconditioning of refuse may also be desirable for deodorizing orsanitizing when it is to be manually sorted, and drying or wetting asrequired may be desirable in either manual or automatic sortingstations.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, in practice of this inventionaccording to a presently preferred embodiment, there is provided arefuse disintegrator having a pair of contra-rotating reels, each havinga plurality of star-like spiders spaced along the length of the reel.The spiders on the two reels are interlaced for contacting refusepassing through the throat between the reels. Teeth on the legs of thespiders may be employed for engaging refuse for opening bundles orsacks, or breaking large objects. Means may be provided on the legs ofthe spiders for ejecting fluid, such as air, bearing conditioningadditives for varying the properties of refuse. In a preferredembodiment, the teeth and fluid ejection means are arranged onslipcovers on the legs of the spiders for ready maintenance andreplacement.

DRAWINGS These and other features and advantages of the presentinvention will be appreciated as the same becomes better understood byreference to the following detailed description of a presently preferredembodiment when considered in connection with the accompanying drawingswherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates in schematic cross section a refuse disintegratorconstructed according to principles of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of a portion of the disintegrator of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged detail of a reel on the disintegrator of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 illustrates the detail of FIG. 3 with a slipcover in place; and

FIG. 5 is a transverse cross section of the slipcover of FIG. 4.

Throughout the drawings like numerals refer to like parts.

DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 illustrates semi-schematically in end cross section arefuse disintegrator constructed according to principles of thisinvention. As illustrated in this presently preferred embodiment, refusefrom a dumping station (not shown) is collected in a hopper 10 or siloto which it may be conveyed by a conveyor system such as, for example,that described and illustrated in the aforementioned US. Pat.application Ser. No. 71,958. Refuse as collected and conveyed to thehopper 10 is typically compacted to a significant degree so that themixed components are squeezed and tangled together so that separation ofthe components would be difficult. A large proportion of the refuse isalso contained in bundles, cardboard boxes, paper sacks or plastic bagsso that access to the refuse therein is restricted.

A pair of doors 11 at the bottom of the hopper, shown in a fully openposition and in phantom in a closed position, control or meter the flowof refuse from the bottom of the hopper 10. The doors 11 may behydraulically controlled or regulated by any other conventionalmechanism (not shown). Refuse from the hopper 10 falls through theopening between the doors 11 and into the throat between a pair ofdisintegrating reels l2 and 13.

Each of the reels 12 and 13 comprises an elongated axial drum or hollowshaft 14 of any desired length. Spaced apart along the length of each ofthe shafts 14 are a plurality of star-like spiders which in theillustrated embodiment each have six legs 16, radiating outwardly fromthe shaft 14. As best seen in FIG. 2, the spiders on one reel 12 areinterleaved or interlaced between spiders on the other reel 13, andfurther, as

- seen in FIG. 1, the circles of revolution of the legs on the twospiders overlap.

- Preferably, one of the reels 13 is rotatable by a reversible motor 17about an axis that remains fixed, which simplifies the coupling betweenthe motor and shaft.

The reel 12 is also driven by a reversible motor (not shown), so that ifthe reels jam the direction of rotation of the reels can be reversed forunjamming. During typical operation the two reels 12 and 13contra-rotate inwardly at the top and downwardly through the throatbetween the two reels as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 1. In order toobtain the best shearing action between the two reels, it is preferredthat one of the reels l2 rotate at a greater rate than the other reel 13so that its legs continually pass the legs of the slower moving reel.Typically, for example, the slower reel 13 may rotate at a rate up toabout 60 RPM and the faster reel 12 at about twice that rate.

One of the reels 12 has its central shaft 14 mounted on bearings (notshown) between a pair of stout horizontal beams 18 for support withinthe region below the doors 11. The beam 18 is mounted on rollers 19 sothat it can be retracted as desired in order to bring the reel 12 to aretracted position, as seen in phantom in FIG. 1. Retraction of theentire reel 12 permits jamming of refuse between the two reels to becleared, where mere reversal of the direction of rotation of the reelsis not sufficient. Retraction also permits maintenance and repair of thereel and replacement of slipcovers, as hereinafter described, with greatfacility. A door 21 in the side of the disintegrator permits the reel tobe retracted or advanced as desired. A door 22 on the opposite side ofthe disintegrator permits access to the reel 13, which in the preferredarrangement is incapable of retraction, but which can also be providedwith means for moving to a retracted position if desired.

Above the center of the reels and inclined inwardly and downwardly aredeflection screens, each of which has a steel frame 23 bolted to a beam24 extending along the length of the disintegrator. Within the frame 23a heavy screen 26 is provided. The frames 23, having screen mountedtherein, are wide enough to fit between adjacent spiders on each of thereels with significant clearance and approach the central shaft 14 ofeach of the reels, again with clearance, so as to assure that refuse isdirected towards the throat between the two reels with full opportunityto be disintegrated thereby. The screens prevent large bundles or bagsof refuse from bypassing the disintegrator, and yet permits some of thefiner refuse to fall through at any point within the width of thedisintegrator.

Arranged directly beneath the reels 12 and 13 so as to receive refusepassing therethrough is a conventional vibrating screen 27. Largerobjects in the refuse are vibrated by the screen and exit through anopening 28, preferably onto a conventional conveyor belt or the like(not shown). Finer objects in the refuse may pass through the vibratingscreen 27 and fall to a separate conveyor belt (not shown) from whichsome components may be removed prior to other disposal of the smallerparticles of refuse. The larger refuse passing through the opening 28 ispreferably passed to a manual sorting station such as described andillustrated in the aforementioned US. Pat. application Ser. No. 16,685.

The legs on the star-like spiders of each reel are preferablyconstructed in the manner illustrated in FIGS. 3 through 5, whichillustrate the arrangement of one of the legs on a reel, and it will beunderstood that the other legs are substantially identical. Thus, asillustrated in FIG. 3, each leg is preferably formed of a conventionalchannel 29 (or in other embodiments an I- beam), the web 31 of whichpreferably has had a longitudinal tapering slit cut therefrom. The twosides of the channel are then bent together and welded along the seam 32to form a tapered channel relatively wider at its base adjacent thecentral shaft 14 and relatively narrower near its tip. Preferably hardrubber bumpers or shims 33 are secured along the tapered faces of thechannel at at least two points on each face. An end plate 34 at theouter end of the leg has a threaded stud 36 welded thereto.

A pipe 37 is provided through the hollow center shaft 14 and transversepipes 38 lead therefrom to the root of each of the legs 16. Aconventional fluid quick disconnect 39 is provided at the end of each ofthe pipes 38. If desired, the pipe 37 can be deleted and transversepipes secured directly through the wall of the hollow central shaft 14.It will be noted that a rather crude connection is all that is requiredsince substantial leakage can be tolerated.

An air compressor 41 is connected to the pipe 37 so as to applycompressed air thereto as desired. The air to the compressor has itscomposition adjusted by conventional means as indicated schematically bythe labeled box additives 42. A variety of air composition treatmentsmay be employed and are comprehended by the nomenclature additives." Itshould be preliminarily noted that the compressed air supplied to thepipe 37 is eventually ejected into material passing between the reels sothat composition changes made in the compressed air affect theproperties of the refuse.

In some cases such as, for example, in rainy weather, the refusereaching the disintegrator may be undesirably high in water content andthe additives station may in fact be a removal station for heating ordehumidifying the air so that warm, dry air is passed through therefuse. At other times, such as, for example, in hot dry weather, therefuse reaching the station may have an abnormally low water content sothat it is dusty and difficult to handle in manual or automaticequipment. In that case, a suitable additive is steam or a spray ofwater droplets which tend to increase the water content of the refuse inthe disintegrator. If manual sorting of the refuse is employed, it maybe desirable to add sanitizing chemicals to the compressed air in orderto at least partially sanitize the refuse. It may also be desirablewhere substantial amounts of organic materials are present to providedeodorizing additives in the compressed air.

Such treatments of refuse with humidifying, drying, deodorizing, orsanitizing additives are not effectively accomplished with bulk refusesince such additives then contact only the exposed surfaces of therefuse and do not affect the bulk thereof. In the preferred refusedisintegrator, on the other hand, the compressed air containing thedesired additives is ejected into the material as it is contacted by thespiders on the reels. In this way, the additives are intimately mixedwith the refuse as it is disintegrated and in its flufiiest state sothat the most thorough possible mixing is obtained.

As is illustrated in detail in FIGS. 4 and 5, each of the legs of thespiders is preferably provided with a hollow removable slipcover 43,which has a tapered interior congruent with the taper of the channel 29that is welded to the central shaft 14. An .end plate 44 in the smallerend of the slipcover 43 fits over the stud 36 and is held in place by anut 46. This serves to bring the slipcover into tight engagement withthe shims 33 on the channel. A lug 47 on one side of the slipcover isprovided for a removal thereof from the tapered channel. A blow from asledge hammer or the like readily disengages the slipcover from thetapered shims 33 and permits its removal. By connecting the slipcover tothe channel at the outer end, the safety of maintenance personnel isenhanced since they require access only to the end of the legs of thespider and need not approach a position where inadvertent rotation ofthe reel during maintenance would jeopardize them. Thus, a slipcover canbe put on from the end, tightened into position by the end nut 46, andalso removed from the end after a blow on the lug 47. It will beapparent that a device akin to a wheel puller could also be used toremove the slipcover from the channel.

Extending along one edge of the slipcover 43 are a plurality of raisedteeth 48, each of which has serrated edges to provide best tearingaction when the teeth engage refuse or other material passing betweenthe reels. Referring again to FIG. 1, the teeth 48 on the legs of thefaster moving reel 12 are arranged on the leading edge of the leg, thatis, so that the teeth face downwardly as the legs pass through thethroat between the two reels. Conversely, the teeth 48 on the legs onthe slower moving reel 13 are on the trailing edge of the legs so thatthey face upwardly as the legs move downwardly through the throatbetween the two reels. By having the teeth on the leading edge of thefaster moving reel and the trailing edge of the slower moving reel, bothsets of teeth may engage a bundle, sack, or other article of refusepassing through the throat, and the radial component of relative motionbetween legs on the two reels provides a shearing action that quitesuccessfully rips open bags and boxes and disintegrates tight bundles ofrefuse. Although the teeth may effect some cutting action, it isbelieved that they serve mainly to keep refuse from moving along thelength of the legs. The slipcovers are preferably made symmetrically sothat a single style of slipcover can be used on both reels, even thoughwhen installed the teeth face in opposite directions.

Mounted within each of the slipcovers, as seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, is apipe 51 extending along the length and connectable to the quickdisconnect 39 on the central pipe when the slipcover is installed.Transverse stubs 52 from the pipe 51 lead to nozzles 53 spaced along thelength of the slipcover. The nozzles are arranged adjacent the teeth 48so that the blast of compressed air tends to disengage refuse from theteeth. At the same time this blast of compressed air containingadditives for modifying the characteristics of the refuse mixesthoroughly with the refuse as it is disintegrated for drying,humidifying, deodorizing or sanitizing as required. By having the airjets directed tangentially and in opposite directions on the two reels,significant tumbling of the refuse may be obtained with consequentexposure to the conditioned air.

It will be noted that the refuse disintegrator is a massive rather slowmoving machine with large clearances between adjacent spiders. Thus itis different from a hammer mill or the like that shatters materials byimpact of rapidly rotating hammers or a grinder that pinches materialbetween a rotating mechanism and a fixed structure. Likewise, thespiders do not cut refuse as some shredders do. Instead thedisintegrator provides a-slow tearing or shearing action that pullsbundles or bags apart. The legs are stout enough that many objects suchas lumber may be broken or crushed by the disintegrator.

Although but one embodiment of refuse disintegrator constructedaccording to principles of this invention has been described andillustrated herein, many modifications and variations will be apparentto one skilled in the art. Thus, for example, auxiliary water spraysmaybe added above the disintegrator so as to dampen dusty refuse andprovide dust control for augmenting the water content of the compressedair in extremely dry weather. Other means may be employed for retractingone or both of the reels, such as, for example, beams mounted on a pivotfor supporting the reel bearings wherein by proper selection of thepivot point, a degree of self regulation of the reels can be providedfor minimizing the jamming that might occur as large, tough objectsenter the disintegrator. If desired the volume of air discharged fromthe two reels can be different for effecting a net air flow in onedirection. Many other modifications and variations will be apparent toone skilled in the art, and it is therefore to be understood that withinthe scope of the appended claims the invention may be practicedotherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

1. A refuse disintegrator comprising:

a first rotatable reel;

a plurality of star-like spiders spaced apart along the length of thereel;

means for rotating the first reel;

a second reel substantially parallel to, and spaced apart from, thefirst reel;

a plurality of star-like spiders spaced apart along the length of thesecond reel and interlaced with spiders on the first reel;

means for rotating the second reel in the opposite direction from thefirst reel;

means on the reels for ejecting fluid therefrom into material passingbetween the reels.

2. A refuse disintegrator as defined in claim 1 wherein the means forejecting fluid comprises a plurality of fluid outlets spaced along eachleg of each spider.

3. A refuse disintegrator as defined in claim 1 further comprising aplurality of' refuse engaging teeth on an edge of each of the legs ofthe spider; and wherein the fluid outlets are adjacent the teeth fordisengaging refuse therefrom.

4. A refuse disintegrator as defined in claim 1 further comprising:

a slipcover on each of the legs of the spider;

means for temporarily securing the slipcover on the leg; and wherein themeans for ejecting fluid comprises a plurality of fluid outlets spacedapart along an edge of the slipcover for ejecting fluid tangentiallyrelative to the reel.

5. A refuse disintegrator as defined in claim 4 further comprising aplurality of refuse engaging teeth on an edge of each of the slipcovers;and wherein the fluid outlets are adjacent the teeth for disengagingrefuse therefrom. 6. A refuse disintegrator as defined in claim 1further comprising:

a feed hopper located above the reels;

means for regulating the flow of refuse from the feed hopper to thereels;

a plurality of guide means arranged below the feed hopper in a pair ofrows extending along the length of the reels and spaced upwardly andoutwardly therefrom, each of the guide means extending inwardly anddownwardly for guiding refuse towards the throat between the reels; and

a vibratory screen arranged beneath the reels for receiving refusetherefrom and separating relatively coarse refuse from relatively finerefuse.

7. A refuse disintegrator as defined in claim 1 further comprising meansfor supplying compressed air to the means for ejecting fluid; and

means for modifying the composition or properties of the compressed air.

8. A refuse disintegrator comprising:

a first rotatable reel;

a plurality of star-like spiders spaced apart along the length of thereel;

a second reel substantially parallel to the first reel and spaced aparttherefrom for defining a throat therebetween;

a plurality of star-like spiders spaced apart along the length of thesecond reel and interlaced with spiders on the first reel;

means for rotating the first and second reels in opposite directionsinwardly and downwardly relative to the throat therebetween; and

means for retracting one of the reels laterally relative to the otherreel for disengaging the reel from articles of refuse jammedtherebetween.

9. A refuse disintegrator as defined in claim 8 further comprising meansfor reversing the direction of rotation of at least one of the reels.

length of the second reel and interlaced with spiders on the first reel;

means for rotating the second reel at a peripheral speed different fromthe peripheral speed of the first reel and wherein the means forrotating rotates the first and second reels relatively inwardly anddownwardly through the throat therebetween; and

means along the legs of the spiders for inhibiting movement of refusealong the length of the legs.

11. A refuse disintegrator as defined in claim 10 wherein the means forinhibiting movement comprises reel and along the trailing edge of therelatively slower reel.

12. A refuse disintegrator as defined in claim 11 wherein the raisedteeth each comprise a serrated edge for ripping refuse.

13. A refuse disintegrator as defined in claim 10 further comprising:

a slipcover on each of the legs of the spiders;

means for temporarily securing the slipcover to the leg; and wherein themeans for inhibiting movement comprises a plurality of alternatelyraised and recessed regions along an edge of the slipcover.

14. A refuse disintegrator as defined in claim 13 wherein;

each leg comprises a tapered member secured to the reel; and eachslipcover comprises:

an internal portion complementary to the tapered member;

means at the outer end of the slipcover for attaching it to the taperedmember;

a plurality of raised teeth along an edge of the slipcover; and

a plurality of air jets along the edge of the slipcover adjacent theteeth.

15. A refuse disintegrator as defined in claim 14 further comprising:

means for supplying compressed air to the air jets;

and

means for modifying properties of the compressed air for drying,humidifying, deodorizing or sanitizing refuse.

16. A refuse disintegrator as defined in claim 10 further comprising:

a plurality of ejection means for ejecting compressed air adjacent themeans for inhibiting for biasing refuse away therefrom.

1. A refuse disintegrator comprising: a first rotatable reel; aplurality of star-like spiders spaced apart along the length of thereel; means for rotating the first reel; a second reel substantiallyparallel to, and spaced apart From, the first reel; a plurality ofstar-like spiders spaced apart along the length of the second reel andinterlaced with spiders on the first reel; means for rotating the secondreel in the opposite direction from the first reel; means on the reelsfor ejecting fluid therefrom into material passing between the reels. 2.A refuse disintegrator as defined in claim 1 wherein the means forejecting fluid comprises a plurality of fluid outlets spaced along eachleg of each spider.
 3. A refuse disintegrator as defined in claim 1further comprising a plurality of refuse engaging teeth on an edge ofeach of the legs of the spider; and wherein the fluid outlets areadjacent the teeth for disengaging refuse therefrom.
 4. A refusedisintegrator as defined in claim 1 further comprising: a slipcover oneach of the legs of the spider; means for temporarily securing theslipcover on the leg; and wherein the means for ejecting fluid comprisesa plurality of fluid outlets spaced apart along an edge of the slipcoverfor ejecting fluid tangentially relative to the reel.
 5. A refusedisintegrator as defined in claim 4 further comprising a plurality ofrefuse engaging teeth on an edge of each of the slipcovers; and whereinthe fluid outlets are adjacent the teeth for disengaging refusetherefrom.
 6. A refuse disintegrator as defined in claim 1 furthercomprising: a feed hopper located above the reels; means for regulatingthe flow of refuse from the feed hopper to the reels; a plurality ofguide means arranged below the feed hopper in a pair of rows extendingalong the length of the reels and spaced upwardly and outwardlytherefrom, each of the guide means extending inwardly and downwardly forguiding refuse towards the throat between the reels; and a vibratoryscreen arranged beneath the reels for receiving refuse therefrom andseparating relatively coarse refuse from relatively fine refuse.
 7. Arefuse disintegrator as defined in claim 1 further comprising means forsupplying compressed air to the means for ejecting fluid; and means formodifying the composition or properties of the compressed air.
 8. Arefuse disintegrator comprising: a first rotatable reel; a plurality ofstar-like spiders spaced apart along the length of the reel; a secondreel substantially parallel to the first reel and spaced apart therefromfor defining a throat therebetween; a plurality of star-like spidersspaced apart along the length of the second reel and interlaced withspiders on the first reel; means for rotating the first and second reelsin opposite directions inwardly and downwardly relative to the throattherebetween; and means for retracting one of the reels laterallyrelative to the other reel for disengaging the reel from articles ofrefuse jammed therebetween.
 9. A refuse disintegrator as defined inclaim 8 further comprising means for reversing the direction of rotationof at least one of the reels.
 10. A refuse disintegrator comprising: afirst rotatable reel; a plurality of star-like spiders spaced apartalong the length of the reel; means for rotating the reel at a firstperipheral speed; a second rotatable reel substantially parallel to, andspaced apart from, the first reel for defining a throat therebetween; aplurality of star-like spiders spaced apart along the length of thesecond reel and interlaced with spiders on the first reel; means forrotating the second reel at a peripheral speed different from theperipheral speed of the first reel and wherein the means for rotatingrotates the first and second reels relatively inwardly and downwardlythrough the throat therebetween; and means along the legs of the spidersfor inhibiting movement of refuse along the length of the legs.
 11. Arefuse disintegrator as defined in claim 10 wherein the means forinhibiting movement comprises a plurality of raised teeth along theleading edge of eacH of the legs of the spiders on the relatively fasterreel and along the trailing edge of the relatively slower reel.
 12. Arefuse disintegrator as defined in claim 11 wherein the raised teetheach comprise a serrated edge for ripping refuse.
 13. A refusedisintegrator as defined in claim 10 further comprising: a slipcover oneach of the legs of the spiders; means for temporarily securing theslipcover to the leg; and wherein the means for inhibiting movementcomprises a plurality of alternately raised and recessed regions alongan edge of the slipcover.
 14. A refuse disintegrator as defined in claim13 wherein; each leg comprises a tapered member secured to the reel; andeach slipcover comprises: an internal portion complementary to thetapered member; means at the outer end of the slipcover for attaching itto the tapered member; a plurality of raised teeth along an edge of theslipcover; and a plurality of air jets along the edge of the slipcoveradjacent the teeth.
 15. A refuse disintegrator as defined in claim 14further comprising: means for supplying compressed air to the air jets;and means for modifying properties of the compressed air for drying,humidifying, deodorizing or sanitizing refuse.
 16. A refusedisintegrator as defined in claim 10 further comprising: a plurality ofejection means for ejecting compressed air adjacent the means forinhibiting for biasing refuse away therefrom.